The Finale

               As our time in our first math course comes to an end, it is easy to look back and see how much better I feel in regards to my how I view my competence as a math teacher. Truth be told, I do not think I ever thought about being a math teacher, at any grade level, but that has changed. So much so that as I write this, I have a lesson plan entitled “Introduction to Grade 7 Data Management: Key Terms” beside me, of which I am teaching tomorrow in my placement. Saying I was very nervous about having to teach math in my placement is an understatement, I was basically a wreck for a short time. However, slowly but surely I began to feel more and more confident as a math teacher, with a little help from my friends, but mostly because of the help provided from my instructor.

                Like me, most students dread math, they often walk into math classroom with what I like to call “poor vibes”. The amount of fun I had during hour three hour classes not only made my learning easier and showed me that I could have fun in math class, (quite possibly the first time ever), it taught me about the importance of making math fun. I think educators in general should try to create an environment that create “rich vibes” for their students. An environment that is fun and engaging. Fun and engaging are defiantly two things that I believe describe and effective teacher. Fun in the math classroom is easy to do if your plan ahead, as being prepared allows you to make changes on the fly but also interact with your students in a more natural way.

                The best way to create a fun math classroom is by incorporating manipulatives in your lessons and activities as much as you can. We worked with a massive amount of manipulatives throughout our time in math class. Not only did it make it fun but also it engaged us much more than if we just sat there and listened on how to teach math. It was routinely stated, but also observed, that the use of manipulatives in math class allows for more comprehension for the students. Pictured below are some manipulatives we used throughout our time in class, which helped us learn. Particularly useful are the pattern blocks and connect blocks for the strand of Pattern and Algebra because it allowed us to display linear equations using a physical tool. When students are able to use their hands to learn, to be able to use their knowledge and understanding via physical manipulatives, it allows students to touch and feel what they are learning about, not just read and write about what they are learning.

                  To my recollection, most of the problems we worked through in class were open based questions. We were taught about what makes a math question great or not, the main factor in my opinion is whether or not all students can get started right away, what was dubbed “a wide base”. Having a wide base for your questions is crucial for creating an activity that engages all students easily. Another aspect that I find very important is whether questions have a “high ceiling”, meaning whether or not the question you asked allows for students who excel, are able to continue to learn and expose new aspects about the question. Another aspect that is a key ingredient to making good math questions, especially open ones, is creating questions that allow for more than one response and more than one way to find an answer. We conducted a great question that involved many pathways to finding the answer. The problem, titled “Joel’s Kitten Problem” asked us to determine out of 2 stores what had the better deal for kitten food, one store selling 12 cans for $15 or the other selling 20 cans for $23. We were asked to find the better deal without using division to simply find the unit price. Even within our group, we had differing ideas on how to do it. What made this question great was that everyone could start it (Wide Base) and that each group basically came up with a different method to determine the better deal. The pictures below, display how a group determined that the way both stores sold their kitten food enabled them to buy 60 cans of food. By doing that, they could compare the two stores prices for 60 cans and determine the better deal. Two of the solutions groups completed in the group can be seen below. 

In my first blog post, I presented the myth that many people think they are inherently bad at math, that they “just didn’t get that gene like their parents”. I use to say a very similar thing, my mom works for Revenue Canada as an accountant and saying that she is good at math is a severe understatement. I always use to say, “Well my mom is an accountant, but that did not get passed down to me”. The notion that math is an inherent trait is seemingly ridiculous, that you either have it or you do not. Now that is to say, I do not view myself now as a mathematician, but I feel like I have an almost brand new view when it comes to math, specifically in regards to my competence as a math teacher in the future. I am excited to teach math to my students this year, and I know that if I focus on creating a fun environment in class with the use of manipulatives and open questions I can make a lot of headway to becoming an effective math teacher.

Thank you J